Gardner & Trump Roll Back Clean Air Protections, Give Big Oil Free Rein to Pollute During Pandemic
Before Senator Cory Gardner’s Washington allies were on the air for even 24 hours with their latest desperate lies about John Hickenlooper, the independent fact checkers at KDVR have already ruled their ad “misleading.”
The same group Gardner ran in 2018 (already under scrutiny for earlier false and “horrifying” ads that “smell like sh*t”) is now peddling falsehoods while ignoring Gardner’s long record of undermining protections for Colorado’s clean air and water.
“As Cory Gardner’s Washington allies make up false attacks on John Hickenlooper, Gardner and the Trump administration are giving polluters a free pass to spew toxins into our air and water,” said Hickenlooper for Colorado spokesperson Ammar Moussa. “John Hickenlooper is the only candidate in this race who has demonstrated he will protect our clean air and water and understands the urgency of climate change and that’s why he is endorsed by leading environmental groups including League of Conservation Voters and Sierra Club. So it is no surprise Mitch McConnell and his dark money allies are swooping in with millions of dollars of misleading ads to try and distract from Cory Gardner’s record of standing with Trump 100% of the time — including on unprecedented environmental rollbacks and giveaways to corporate polluters.”
With Gardner’s full support, the Trump administration has hamstrung the EPA and is using the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to suspend enforcement of pollution limits on oil refineries and other corporate polluters. Gardner — who has a failing 11% environmental voting record and is on the “Dirty Dozen” list from the League of Conservation Voters and has taken over $1.7 million from Big Oil — has voted to put a coal lobbyist in charge of the EPA and enabled Trump’s myriad attacks on our clean air and water.
Please see below to get the facts about this misleading smear:
FACT: Suncor gave a grant to the City of Denver’s tree-planting initiative in 2006–not to John Hickenlooper personally or politically as the ad falsely claims
- “Suncor gave the city a grant worth a million dollars over five years. It was for the Mile High Million, an initiative to plant a million trees in the Mile High City. It wasn’t a secret, Suncor’s logo is seen multiple times in a city brochure for the program. And to be clear, this happened in 2006, nine years before the hydrogen cyanide issue.” – KDVR Truth Check
FACT: The State of Colorado has no authority through federal law or state regulations to control emissions of hydrogen cyanide and could only limit emissions of it by voluntary agreements.
- “Suncor was legally allowed to set its own hydrogen cyanide limit in 2015. The Environmental Protection Agency did not have a maximum allowable limit for the gas. Therefore, the law allowed Suncor to suggest its own limit to the state, which it ultimately did.” – KDVR Truth Check
- The Air Quality Control Division does not have the authority from federal law or state regulations to control hydrogen cyanide. Limits were only allowed if Suncor voluntarily agreed to emission standards. – Denver Post
- “There’s no federal regulatory limit on hydrogen cyanide.” – Denver Post
- Before the Air Quality Division negotiated limits on the hydrogen cyanide Suncor could emit in 2018, no limit existed and Suncor was permitted to emit unlimited hydrogen cyanide and the state had no recourse.
- The Air Quality Division consulted with state health experts including epidemiologists to set the emissions level.
FACT: The Air Quality Control Commission is independent of the Governor, and the Governor has no say in the commission’s actions.
- AQCC was authorized by the Colorado General Assembly – AQCC
- “The AQCC is an independent regulatory body answerable only to Colorado law, not to a governor’s directives attempting to override or circumvent Colorado law.” – Republican state Senator John Cooke op-ed
FACT: As governor, John repeatedly held Suncor accountable and fined them millions of dollars for violations
- Hickenlooper’s administration fined Suncor for $2.2 million in 2012 for environmental pollution
- State of Colorado and Department of Justice forced Suncor to pay Colorado $1.9 million for a 2011 toxic spill into Sand Creek
FACT: John Hickenlooper has a clear record of tackling climate change and protecting our clean air and water
- As Governor, Hickenlooper brought industry groups and environmentalists together to make Colorado the first state to limit methane pollution from oil and gas wells. Colorado’s “gold standard” rules were estimated to cut the equivalent of 340,000 cars’ worth of emissions and cut methane leaks by over half.
- In the wake of President Trump pulling the United States out of the Paris Climate Accord, Hickenlooper took action to commit Colorado to upholding those standards, issuing an executive order to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 26%, maximize renewable energy use, and increase electric vehicle use.
- Similarly, when Trump announced his repeal of the Clean Power Plan, Hickenlooper recommitted Colorado to its goals of reducing emissions.
- As Governor, John Hickenlooper oversaw the retirement of two coal plants that were replaced with wind and solar.
FACT: Cory Gardner has failed to protect Colorado’s air and water by repeatedly siding with Trump and voting to let polluters run rampant.
- Gardner has enabled the Trump administration as they have reversed over 100 environmental protections, including “rules that govern how refineries monitor pollution in surrounding communities.”
- Gardner has refused to support the CORE Act, which would protect Colorado public lands like the Thompson Divide from drilling.
- Gardner voted to put a coal lobbyist in charge of the Environmental Protection Agency and to cut the EPA’s budget by a third.
- Gardner has voted several times to block or repeal limits on coal power plant emissions.
- Gardner voted to repeal national methane emissions standards modeled after the “gold standard” regulations Hickenlooper led in Colorado.
- Gardner voted for a resolution that tried to undermine the Paris Climate talks.
- Gardner voted to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling for the first time ever, which Trump started to move forward with this week.
- Gardner cheered the Trump administration when they rolled back protections for clean water, including limits on pollution in our rivers and streams.
